Wednesday, 10 December 2014

Tundras on toast

The appearance of a pair of Tundra Bean Geese in the Swineham area this weekend had Dorset birders digging out old notebooks to establish whether an earlier Poole Harbour record in the 1980s were of the Taiga or Tundra sub-species. The conclusion - that nobody knew or had taken sufficiently detailed note to be able to work it out in retrospect - harked back to simpler days when they were just good old 'Beans'. 

I had visiting family to entertain all weekend, virtually guaranteeing a patch mega, and it was pretty clear that spurning my little sister's company to go see some birds would be frowned upon. So I waited until early Sunday morning when she was still having a lie in to twitch them and was back to make coffee and muffins like a dutiful host before anyone else had stirred. I think that's allowed.
Tundra Bean Goose at Swineham
The Beans were originally seen from distance and thought to be Pink-feet - this shot shows the darker back and upperwing of Bean Goose...
...and this shot the orange feet of Bean Goose. For better pictures of both birds see Joe Mitchell's photo on the Dorset Bird Club website.

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